A key objective of government transport and planning agencies is tomaximise residents' ability to access work, facilities and services, whilst minimising any negative economic, social and environmental consequences of travel. Current policy strategies and issues include:

improving employment opportunities closer to where people live;

concentrating growth in established areas and around suburban centres;

increased use of public transport;

improved efficiency of the road network;

supporting a range of affordable housing options;

and reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.

Availability, modes, distance and duration of transport in relation to location of residence can influence people's economic and social activities. Therefore people's reasons for choosing where to live and work is important in understanding travel behaviour. The extent to which proximity to transport is a factor in these decisions is vital in considering policy strategies and issues.

An understanding of the motivation behind changes of residence and work location can inform policies designed to encourage greater population and job growth in certain locations. These findings may also assist in understanding the potential for non-infrastructure policies to reduce the negative impacts of travel, such as congestion. Such policies could include pricing and structure of public transport fares, road tolls, congestion pricing and parking policies.

Information on where people live and work is currently used as an input to transport models designed to predict the patronage of different transport options. Typically these models do not include how transport investments impact on location choices.

If public transport access is important in residents' choice about where to live and work, then building new transport infrastructure or improving services will have an impact on these choices.

The data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in the 2008 State Supplementary Survey provides indications of the role of transport infrastructure and services in influencing residential and workplace location choices. This will contribute to development of integrated transport and land use models which will improve accuracy of demand estimates for new infrastructure and their likely land use impact.